Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh recently opened up about his experience of being a part of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) camp. While speaking on Sportskeeda’s YouTube channel, he described how the Chennai-based franchise stands out from other teams in the Indian Premier League as well. Notably, CSK bought him before the 2018 edition and he stated that the franchise takes great care of the players and their families and the owners happily bear all the expenses of all the family members who are travelling with the player during the season as well.
He said on Sportskeeda: “I observed a new culture when I joined CSK. Over there, the franchise takes care of the tickets, travel, stay, food and everything for the player’s family. Not just for one person, but even if 10 people from your family want to come, the franchise is ready to bear the expenses in that case too. The other teams don’t do that. In other teams, even if you have your partner with you, then you would have to pay for her.”
He further added: “If you need an extra room in the hotel, then you would have to deduct the amount from your salary. This isn’t the case with CSK. They’d book tickets even if someone has to come from Australia and rooms are given to them. A player gets attached to the franchise when he sees that they are doing so much for him and his family.”
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“We had around 7-8 families with us when I was playing with them. There were a lot of kids too. So, it never felt like the IPL was going on as it felt like a picnic. It was a completely different environment. While other teams also have such an environment, but not to this extent. Hats off to CSK for doing all these little things for the families of players.”
The veteran spinner was a part of CSK’s title-winning campaign in 2018. He continued playing for them in the subsequent season as well but he pulled out citing personal reasons in 2020. Later, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) bought him and he played for them one season before announcing his retirement from all forms of cricket in December last year.
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“CSK have a very loyal fanbase. In 2018, we were not playing at home and were playing our matches in Pune. People came all the way to Pune in trains and we did not feel that we did not have enough support even once. Whenever we entered the stadium, we could just see people in yellow. People had come from all corners to welcome CSK back. I felt like this is the kind of team for which you want to play. There’s no pressure at all. It’s all the same if you win or lose,” Harbhajan Singh concluded.
